Notes on dairy farming

SOUTHAMPTON
UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

BOOK NUMBER

-

CLASS MARK

SP '2Sj > c \

V

NOTES

ON

DAIRY FARMING,

BY

GILBERT MURRAY.

LONDON :

BEMROSE & SONS, 10, PATERNOSTER BUILDINGS;
AND DERBY.

PERKINS

AGRICULTURAL LIBRARY

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE
SOUTHAMPTON

NOTES

DAIRY

ON

FARMING,

BY

GILBERT MURRAY.

LONDON :

BEMROSE & SONS, 10, PATERNOSTER BUILDINGS
AND DERBY.

NOTES ON DAIRY FARMING.

EARLY RECORDS.

We learn from the records both of sacred and profane history,
that the milk of several species of our domesticated animals
was largely used as an article of daily food by the nomadic
tribes of the East from the earliest ages. Cheese and the
curdling of milk are mentioned in the writings of Job.
David, whilst of tender years, or at least too young to march
with his brethren to the battle field, was sent to the camp
by his father Jesse, with ten cheeses, -and to look how his
brethren fared. Cheese formed part of the supplies of
David’s followers at Mahanaim, at the time of Absalom’s
rebellion. Homer states that cheese formed part of the
ample stores found by Ulysses in the cave of the Cyclop
Polyphemus. Judulphus records that excellent cheese and
butter were made by the ancient Ethiopians. There are no
authentic records that any of these nations had become
acquainted with the use of rennet. The curd was in all
probability separated from the milk by the natural process
of souring, and the whey afterwards expelled by pressure.
The poets, philosophers, and historians of Greece and Rome,
frequently mention the use of milk and cheese; but inhabiting
a country where the olive was indigenous, the oil of which
readily supplied their domestic wants, they were relieved
from the necessity and trouble of making butter ; whereas
the Gothic and Celtic tribes of Northern Europe, born to
battle with the rigours of an inhospitable climate, which
greatly curtailed the natural resources of their country, were

4

NOTES ON DAIRY FARMING.

driven, through force of circumstances, to exercise their
inventive faculties in the production of their daily food;
and history attributes to those tribes the merit of having
first discovered the art of making butter.

NUTRITIVE PROPERTIES OF MILK.

Milk is the only true food to be found in a natural state :
it contains all the elements of animal nutrition in an easily
assimilative form. Milk consists of sugar, casein, saline
matter, and fat. The sugar supplies the carbon necessary to
suppoi't respiration, and the casein furnishes the phosphates
and other organic materials required to build up the struc-
ture of bone and muscle. As an article of food, milk is
more wholesome and economical, and possesses a far higher
nutritive value than is generally supposed ; the press
is gradually educating the public to form a more correct
estimate of its value, whilst the Adulteration Acts have
already gone far to secure to the consumer a pure supply.

Beef contains about 60 per cent, of water, and milk about
88 per cent. Three imperial pints of milk are equal in
nutrimeutal value to one pound of beef, and this exclusive of
bone. Hence, milk at one shilling per imperial gallon
would, relatively, be as cheap food as beef at 4-Jd. per pound.
In the case of persons occupied in laborious occupations, it
is necessary that they should consume a certain quantity
of animal food ; whilst on the score both of health and
economy, in the diet of children and persons of sedentary
habits, or of those who take little exercise, it is the general
opinion of medical men that milk to a large extent might
be beneficially substituted for meat.

GROWING DEMAND FOR PURE MILK.

The demand for milk in large towns is rapidly increasing.
It is now regularly sent by rail to the Metropolis from all
distances, up to 150 miles; whilst in Liverpool, Manchester,
Leeds, Sheffield, and all the great hives of industry, pure

NOTES ON DAIRY FARMING.

5

milk is becoming a valuable adjunct to the food of the popu-
lation. The stringent regulations of the Adulterations Acts
are bearing good fruit, and have already proved a boon
v both to producers and consumers.

COMPARATIVE RESULTS OP DAIRYING AND
FEEDING.

The gross value which may be realized from a given area
of land when used for fattening or dairy purposes, is of
great interest both to the Landlord and Tenant Farmer.
The comparison must of necessity be. of an intricate charac-
ter, owing to the wide diversity of climate and geological
formations which prevail, and which exercise a greater
influence on the systems of management in different localities
than is generally supposed. The late Sir H. E. Thompson,
Bart., estimated that the best grazing land in England
produces 20 imperial stones of meat per acre during the
year. We know of no grazing land that gives a gross
average produce of more than 10 pounds per acre ;
such land lets at from £4 to £5 per acre. Some of the
deep alluvial soils met with in the valley of the Trent, the
Dove, and the Derwent, in Derbyshire, rival in productive-
ness the rich pastures of Meath, yet they are generally
wanting in strength ; and it is only on the rich old pastures
of the middle Oolite or Lias, like those found in the counties
of Leicester or Northampton, that heavy oxen can be finished
off for the butcher without the aid of artificial foods.
The produce of two-and-a-half acres of medium grass land
worth a rental of from 38s. to 44s. per acre, will maintain a
dairy cow throughout the year, without the addition of any
extraneous aids. On this keep an ordinary Shorthorn cow
will give a gross yield of 600 imperial gallons of milk which,
at 7d. per gallon, amounts to £17 10s., to which may be added
£1, the value of the calf when dropped, making the total
yearly return £1 8 10s. per cow, or £7 8s. per acre as the gross
return. The cost of labour on the dairy farm will amount

6

NOTES ON DAIRY FARMING.

to 26s. per acre, whilst on the grazing farm it will be 10s.
per acre ■ the capital employed in the former case will be £10
per acre, whilst in the latter it will amount to £22. The
risk of losses from parturition and diseases of various kinds,
is much greater in a herd of breeding and dairy cows, than
amongst that of feeding cattle, and by the exercise of
ordinary discretion, if unfortunately overtaken by disease,
the salvage would amount to a much larger sum in the latter
than it would in the former case. The comparison here drawn
between the gross returns of dairying and grazing is not a
fair one, and without further explanation would tend to mis-
lead the inexperienced. Our illustration is culled from the
best grazing land of England, and this is of limited area.
On the best bullock pastures of the great grazing district of
the Midlands, an ox seldom leaves more than from £4 to £5
for his keep from the 1st of May to the 30th of September ;
and even in that favoured locality -we find few pastures where
each acre 'will finish off an ox of 50 imperial stones. In a
fruitful season it is not unusual to start with a bullock per
acre on the best pastures, but as soon as the first flush of the
grass is over, the ripest beasts are either drafted out and sent
to market, or moved to a better pasture elsewhere. The
facilities offered by direct railway communication to large
towns, and the distance at which the farm is situated from
populous centres, has a direct influence in establishing special
practices. In order to meet the growing wants of the teeming
millions, it is now generally admitted that, perhaps, with
the exception of the chalk, on all secondary and' inferior grass
lands, a combination of dairy farming and stock rearing and
feeding is the most profitable. The grazier now sighs in vain
for the fine old oxen to be met with in abundance in all the
fairs and markets twenty years ago ; there can be no better
proof than this, of the progress of British Agriculture, and
the march of improvement in breeding and feeding live
stock. The system of finishing off for the butcher all the
stock bred on the farm is rapidly extending, and is now

NOTES ON DAIRY FARMING.

7

generally admitted by the most intelligent practical agri-
culturists of the present day as being the most profitable-
On all farms where the system is capable of adoption, an ad-
vantage of primary importance is the general immunity and
freedom from imported contagious diseases. No class have
been greater sufferers from the ravages of foot and mouth,
and other kindred diseases than the dairy farmers of this
country. Cases are to be met with of tenants having twice
lost their entire stock of dairy cows from contagious disease
within a period of twenty years.

One of the greatest boons the Legislature could confer on
Agriculture, would be to assist in the establishment of a
National Association for insuring the stock of the farm
against disease. By rendering the farm self-supporting in the
case of our live stock is the best means within our reach of
maintaining our cattle in a healthy state. Breeding never
can pay unless the young animals are kept in a healthy state
of progression from birth to maturity ; systematic starvation
never answers financially. It is a curious fact that a young
animal when subjected to a course of treatment bordering on
semi-starvation, or when long confined to a diet of bulky in-
nutritious food, the digestive and assimilative organs become
impaired and to some extent lose their natural vitality,
which no after treatment, however liberal, can restore to their
normal condition. Whether the object of the farmer be to
rear animals for the dairy or the shambles, or both, a liberal
fare will always prove the most remunerative. By good
management and close personal supervision, calves can be well
reared on a very small quantity of milk ; at the end of the
first month, linseed, oatmeal, and other gruels may be sub-
stituted for milk ; they will soon learn to eat. During the \
early stages of their growth we know of no food more whole-
some and nutritious than a mixture of wheat, meal, and bran,
with a small quantity of rice, and sweet hay chaff. The
mass should be slightly moistened with water, which prevents
waste. The great secret of success is cleanliness ; the young

8

NOTES ON DAIRY FARMING.

animal is highly susceptible to overcrowding ; inferior sani-
tary conditions are the precursors of blood poisoning and
diarrhoea, which are often attended with great fatality. The
calf pens should be thoroughly cleaned out and fresh littered
daily ; wheat strawis to be preferred, as being not only warmer,
but more wholesome than either barley or oat straw. A
few roots are of immense value in the rearing of young stock.
We prefer them gulped and mised with chaff. Early maturity
is now the great desideratum of every breeder. Animals
intended for the butcher should be ready at from 20 to 30
months old. At this age, with present prices of beef, they
may easily be made worth from £22 to £30 each. Of course
it will be necessary that they should be well-bred animals
of their kind ; three crosses of pure shorthorn on the
common homebred dairy cows of the Midland Counties
will be sufficient for the purpose. The feeding must be good
but not extravagant. They should commence with a small
allowance of linseed cake and meal, as soon as they can eat,
and the allowance increased with their requirements. During
the first winter, from November to May, they will require
two lbs. of good linseed cake, two lbs. of meal, and 25 lbs.
of pulped roots with a mixture of hay and straw chaff. ■
When turned out, if the pastures afford a good bite, 2 lbs.
of cake per day will be sufficient from then until the 1st of
October, when they should be removed to the yards or boxes.
Animals of this age thrive best in boxes, or warm well-
littered yards. Their food should now consist of 3 lbs. of
linseed cake, 3 lbs. of a mixture of beans and barley or
Indian corn meal, with 50 lbs. of pulped roots, mixed with
cut chaff, and a small handful of hay, the last thing at, night.
About the 1st of January the cake and meal should be in-
creased to 4 lbs. each per diem, and the pulped roots to
60 lbs. This treatment continued till March, will make
them ripe for the butcher. It is a popular fallacy to suppose
that the flesh of an old animal is better than that of a com-
paratively young one ; a well-fed two-year-old steer is more

NOTES ON DAIRY FARMING.

9

nutritious, because more easily digestible, than that of a
five-year-old ox. Much of the success of feeding depends
upon the regularity with which the food and water are sup-
plied, and the attention bestowed on the health and comfort
of the animals. On farms where straw is abundant, the yard,
or Hamrnel system as generally practised in the Border
Counties,' has just now one special advantage, in that it
entails considerably less labour ; and our experience leads us
to believe that a certain amount of exercise is conducive to
health, and a more rapid development. The females in-
tended for breeding purposes, although requiring a liberal
supply of good nutritious food, need not be so highly kept
as those intended for immediate slaughter. Here again the
great gain to the farmer is early maturity ; heifers well kept
from their birth are fit to put to the bull at from 16 to 18
months old j calves dropped in April will be ready by
August and September of the following year, and would,
then drop their first calves the following May and June, in
time for the first flush of grass. To carry out this system
successfully requires a mixed occupation and a greater area
of tillage than is usually to be met with on a purelv dairy
farm. One of the most important requisites on a good dairy
faim is an unfailing supply of pure water. Unlike solid
food water passes direct into the fourth or true stomach, where
it becomes mixed with the chyme, and passing directly into
the intestines, forms part of the chyle. It is then taken
up by the absorbents and at once enters into, the cir-
culation. Every dairymaid knows how readily a change
of food unfavourably affects the flavour of the produce, and
tries by every means within her reach to obviate the evil,
whilst the great source of contamination is the stagnant pool
fed by drainage from the farmyard, which often affords the
only available means of supplying their wants. Unques-
tionably to this cause on many farms may be traced the rank
flavour and incipient decay of the cheese, and the difficulty
of keeping the milk sweet at certain seasons.

10

NOTES ON DAIRY FARMING.

There is a wide diversity of opinion amongst scientific
men as to the effect the food of the animal exercises on the
quality of the milk. It is held by some that milk produced
from cows fed exclusively on grass raised by sewage irrigation,
tends to induce disease in children who use it. Whether
this be so or not w 7 e are unable to say; it is well-known to
all practical men that a change from dry to succulent food a
few days after parturition, almost invariably produces an
attack of scouring and prostration of the young animal, and
unless prompt measures are at once taken to retard its pro-
gress, it runs a rapid course, generally proving fatal in a
day or two. This is a clear proof at least in the case of
the lower animals of the marked effect the food of the dam
exercises on the health of the progeny. The climatic in-
fluences most favourable to successful dairy farming, are a
comparatively low temperature and medium rainfall. A well-
drained retentive soil, when laid down in high manurial
condition, with a suitable selection of permanent grasses,
generally make the best milking pastures. Large fields
require both shade and shelter ; a temporary open shed
will always be a good investment, even if built at the expense
of the tenant. It should consist of two ends and a roof
supported on wooden pillars, and placed in a sheltered part
of the field. It need not necessarily' be expensive ; the roof
could be formed of hedge faggots, or other inexpensive
materials, and thatched over to exclude the wet, and form a
shade during the hot days of summer. This would entail
only a small outlay, and would last for many years, and
prove of immense benefit to the stock.

The best proportion of arable land on dairy farms of one
hundred acres and upwards, is about one-fourth the entire
area, whilst on small farms of sixty acres and under, the ex-
penses of keeping a team of horses eat up the profits of culti-
vation. On such farms it will be found more economical to
purchase the requisite quantity of straw and roots than
attempt to grow them on the farm. Under suitable circum-

NOTES ON DAIRY FARMING.

11

stances of soil and climate, the four-coarse system is generally
to be preferred. The chief object in view will be to produce
the greatest weight of root crops and straw which the land is
capable of carrying. This can only be accomplished by
liberal manuring, aided by a system of deep and thorough
cultivation. Swedes, mangold-wurzel, cabbage, and Kohl-
rabi, are the most valuable variety of roots as food for
dairy cows. Cabbage is a gross feeder ; hence, when
removed from the land on which it is grown, and consumed
elsewhere, it is an exhaustive crop ; the same may be
said of all the other root crops, though in a less degree.
The rotation may be so varied that the different varieties
will occupy the same land only once in eight years. For
autumn and winter, cabbage, in combination with dry food,
is particularly valuable as a milk producer, and the heavy
weight per acre which can be grown makes its cultivation
the more desirable. Swedes and mangolds -when taken up
and securely stored keep well throughout the winter, and form
a valuable adjunct as spring advances, carrying the stock
through the most critical period of the season. Where the
soil is suitable, tares or Italian rye-grass can be grown
as a catch crop, and will prove of great value to mix with
hay and other dry food, and save the pastures until a
full bite is obtainable. On early soils, highly manured, a
crop of tares or Italian rye-grass can be cut in time to
prepare the land for a root crop. A good crop of cabbage
will produce from 50 to 60 tons per imperial acre ; the only
objection to their use as food for milking cows is, that the
decayed leaves impart an unpleasant flavour to the milk and
butter. This may, however, easily be obviated by the
exercise of a little care and attention in the removal of all
tainted or decaying leaves before using. The refuse may
be profitably utilized as pig-food. Cabbages, when fully
grown, are highly susceptible to injury from frost or heavy
rains, they are also difficult to store safely. If placed in
large heaps they soon ferment, and set up incipient decay.

12

NOTES ON DAIRY FARMING.

We find them keep best when placed on their crowns on
a piece of dry, sound, old turf land ; in this way the outer
leaves act, to some extent, as a protective covering, warding
off the rains and frosts. A fair average crop of mangold
will produce 35 to 45 tons per acre, which, when pulped
and mixed with chaff and meal, will prove an invaluable
auxiliary during the spring and early summer months.
One valuable property is, that as the season advances, the
root undergoes certain chemical changes, which enhance its
nutritive value. Mangold, when given to dairy cows,
increases the flow of milk. This root should always be used
in conjunction with bean, pea, or Indian corn meal. It is
a popular adage in my native country, that the ‘coo
milks by the moo,’ literally, that the yield of milk is in
proportion to the food supplied. The farmer can commit
no greater error than to starve his dairy stock, more par-
ticularly during the winter months. How often do we see
whole herds of dairy cows crouching under the hedges to
gain a temporary shelter from the biting blasts of a cold
winter’s day, with thin staring coats and empty bellies,
ready receptacles for the germs of disease ; at the same time
they are converting the pasture fields into a semi-fallow,
rendering them worthless for grass during the greater part of
the summer. Shelter and warmth are great food economizers ;
the more an animal is exposed during cold weather, the
greater quantity of carbon is consumed by respiration.
A cow under ordinary circumstances gives off from its
lungs, daily, from 4 to 5 lbs. of carbon, to supply which,
the food consumed must necessarily contain from 8 to
10 lbs. of starch or sugar. This only gives a feeble idea
of the food required to maintain an animal in a healthy state
of progression. A judicious mixture of various kinds of food
is the most economical for dairy cows. This may consist of
decorticated cotton cake, linseed, bean, pea, and wheat
meals, with an equal proportion of Smith’s palm-nut meal.
These must be mixed with straw or hay- chaff, and a few

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PLAN OF DAIRY FARMSTEAD.

IMPLEMENTS

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CARRIAGE

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notes on dairy farming.

13

pulped roots, boiled or steamed ; a considerable quantity
of water should be added, and the mixture given to the
animals in a lukewarm state. Cows in milk should be fed
m this way twice or three times a day, and we know of no
moie profitable system of feeding milking cows during the
winter and early spring months. In some localities, large
quantities of brewers’ grains are used ; they possess no
great nutritive value ; mixed with other food they increase
the flow of milk, principally from the quantity of water
they contain. When used in winter, whilst in a half-
fiozen state, the benefit the stock derives from them is
trifling; when used in large quantities for a lengthened
period, they produce a peculiar effect on the organs of
assimilation and nutrition, which, in a great measure, unfits
the animal for the purpose of the grazier.

The profits of farming are so meagre that not only the
food consumed, but the value of the manure derived from
various kinds of food, should all form the basis of the
farmer s calculation. The teachings of science furnish us
with authentic information, which will benefit every prac-
tical man to consider. According to the best authorities,
the manorial value per ton of the different kinds of grain
and artificial foods are as follows, viz, :

Linseed Cake

Linseed

Decorticated Cotton Cake

Rape Cake

Beans, Peas, and other Leguminous Seeds
Indian Corn

Wheat

Barley

Malt

Oats

Bran

Malt Dust

Rice Meal

Palm Nut Meal

Locust Beans

£ s. d.
4 0 0
2 18 0

0 6 6
4 9 0
3,2 0
15 0
17 0

15 0

16 0

1 5 0

2 15 0

3 10 0
10 0
1 14 0
0 18 6

14

NOTES ON DAIRY FARMING,

Brewers’ Grains 0 12 O'

Potatoes 0 7 0

Common Turnips 0 4 0

The intelligent agriculturist will not fail to discover the
most profitable means of keeping his stock.

The breed of cattle best suited for the purposes of the
dairy depends, to a great extent, on the nature of the soil
and climate, and the quantity and quality of the food ; in
order to improve the breeds of any of our live stock, it is
necessary thht the farmer’s attention should first be directed
to the best means within his reach of providing them with
an abundant supply of rich food. This, in most instances,
can only be accomplished by improving the soil ; the im-
provement of the soil, and of the stock fed upon it, must
ever progress simultaneously. The breed of dairy cattle
suited to any given farm will depend, to some extent on the
quality of the lands, but still more on the nature of the
climate. The produce of the land may be increased by a
more liberal system of management, and any deficiency in
quality can be supplied by artificial aids. The climate, to
some extent, is capable of amelioration by the thorough
drainage of the land, and by the erection of artificial
shelter ; yet, there are the natural influences of elevation,
rainfall, and the variations of temperature, which are
beyond our control. The most successful stock farmer-
will ever be he who cultivates the breed best adapted
to meet the varying circumstances under which he is
placed. The massive and lethargic shorthorn would soon
lose his ample proportions and well formed rotundity, and
deteriorate into a gaunt bony skeleton, if transferred to the
rugged mountains of the far north, exposed to all the fury
of the winter storms, and compelled to pick up a scanty
subsistence by his own unaided exertions. The hardy "West
Highlander fattens when transplanted to the rich fertile
plains of the South, yet pines for the wild airy freedom of
his native hills. On the best class of mixed dairy farms.

NOTES ON DAIRY FARMING.

15

where a liberal supply of winter food is available, the
Yorkshire or common homebred shorthorn, as they are
called, generally prove the most profitable. Though large
consumers they are likewise deep milkers and large pro-
ducers, and when discarded from the dairy, they graze
rapidly either in the field or the stall. An average cow
of this description when placed in a good pasture about
the middle of May, will in the course of the next three
months become ripe for the butcher, and will then weigh
from 50 to 60 imperial stones of 14 lbs. The general
stock of the English dairy counties are capable of great
improvement. Within the last few years the farmers have
evinced a growing disposition to use a better class of bulls,
yet we are often met with the assertion that the use of high
bred bulls on ordinary dairy herds, tends to deteriorate the
milking qualities of the progeny. This we deny ■ the old
“ Teeswater,” the progenitor of the improved shorthorn, was
justly celebrated as a deep milker. Within the last quarter
of a century the breeding of pedigree cattle has become
both a fashionable and a profitable occupation, the calves of
second-rate herds readily realizing from twenty to fifty
guineas as soon as they are dropped, whilst those from
fashionable tribes command fabulous prices. Here, as in
most other kinds of commercial enterprise, self-interest
usurps the functions of the philanthropist. With this des-
cription of valuable stock the rapid propagation of the
species becomes the chief object ; to attain the secretion of
milk is quite a secondary consideration, and is sometimes
discouraged and often neglected. With some breeders the
practice obtains of allowing the calf to suck the dam.
However well this may answer in forcing the young animal,
it utterly ruins the cow for dairy purposes ; some of the
old and valuable strains of shorthorns continue good milkers
to the present day. “Sylph” by “Sir Walter,” bred in
Northamptonshire by the Hon. C. Arbuthnot, and sold to
Sir Charles Knightley, was not only a first-rate breeder, but

16

NOTES ON DAIRY FARMING.

also a deep milker, and lived to the age of 14 or 15
years. From this cow is descended the “sweetheart” or
“ charmer” line, which realized such high prices a few years
ago at the Milcote sale. They are still much sought after,
and generally realize long prices. The whole family are
good milkers ; Fawsley, Snowball, Janizary, Grey Friar,
and Friar’s Cowl, all celebrated Fawsley bulls, were closely
related to the same strain ; Dora, by Sweet William, an old
Lincolnshire tribe, was one of the best milkers I ever knew.
The same family produced a Smithfield Gold Medal Ox
We could enumerate many other lines which as milkers
would contrast favourably with any unpedigreed herd. A
weak point in the English dairy system is the inferior cows
which invariably form a greater or less proportion of every
herd ; in some cases the defects are natural, whilst in many
instances it is the result of bad management and neglect, by
which one or more of the teats are rendered unproductive.
Inferior milkers from whatever cause unfavourably affect
the average returns ; an animal yielding two gallons of milk
per day, will consume an equal quantity of food with anothei
yielding three gallons per day. This shows the advantage to
be derived by close attention to breeding and selection.
The rapid development of the milk trade daily brings the
subject more prominently under the farmer’s observation’
and acts as a stimulant to improvement. The use of a
careful selection of heifers, and well-bred bulls to keep up
the herd, would in a few years add fifty per cent, both to
the value of the stock and their produce. The owners of
pure bred herds of shorthorns are now sufficiently numerous
to place within the reach of all ordinary farmers the services
of well-bred bulls at a moderate cost. The sum of forty
guineas will purchase a yearling of sufficient merit to
improve the majority of the general farm stock of the
country, and having served for two years, and afterwards
stalled for two or three months, he will realize cost price to
the butcher. All farmers should rear their own stock,, and

NOTES ON DAIRY FARMING.

17

in this case make the farm self-supporting. The cow calves
should be yearly reared from the best cows, in the proportion
of one third of the number of cows kept. This would leave
a good margin for casualties, and would also leave the far-
mer an opportunity for selection. Once the system is fairly
launched the proportion to be drafted yearly would be about
one-fifth the number kept. The stock bred and reared on a
farm become, so to speak, acclimatised, and therefore more
healthy than when brought from a distance ; these are all
points which should weigh well with the practical rent-
paying farmer. The Ayrshires as milk-prod ucers are superior
to any other breed ; they are not such large consumers as
the shorthorn, their more slender frames and agile move-
ments, make them well suited to hilly districts, and to
subsist on scanty fare. They have fine constitutions, and
readily withstand the exposure of high elevations. When
transplanted to the rich old pastures of the Midland Coun-
ties, their native characteristics to a great extent soon
disappear, each generation becoming coarser in the bone and
larger of frame ; with a higher temperature and a more
liberal supply of rich food, it is interesting to observe how
admirably the animal functions perform their office, and the
same materials build up the bone, muscle, and fat of
the body, or are converted into one of the most nutritive
and valuable foods we possess. As the power to secrete
milk decreases, that of laying on meat takes the ascendant.
Should a herd of Ayrshires become established on a rich
dairy farm of the South, in order to keep the stock up' to
the mark it would be necessary to replace them from their
native source. One great objection to their use is the low
prices they realize to the grazier when drafted off as barren
cows ; they feed kindly but attain only small weights when
fat. The Channel Island breeds are good milkers, and
justly celebrated for their superior quality of butter ; they
are of a docile temperament, are small consumers in pro-
portion to the quantity of the milk they yield, hence they

18

NOTES ON DAIRY FARMING.

are peculiarly adapted to the wants of the amateur farmer.
Their hair and hides are thin, and they are therefore
more susceptible to sudden changes of temperature, and
less suited to cold climates and elevated situations. When
discarded from the dairy they are of little value for feed-
ing purposes. The Hereford, the Devon, and the Welsh
breeds are little cultivated beyond their native districts.
They are each in their respective localities held in high
estimation for breeding and rearing. In many places, owing
to the scanty population and the distance and difficulty of
teaching good markets, the milking qualities of the different
breeds have hitherto been lightly esteemed. Devonshire has
long been more celebrated for the quality of its cream and
butter than for the quantity produced ; and so with the
Welsh cows fed on the barren mountains of the principality,
whose scanty pastures and bleak climate are more conducive
to the production of a hardy race, than one which will give
a large yield of milk. The improvement of the pastures is
a subject of great importance both to the landlord and
tenant farmer. In the great dairy counties many of the
pastures have been down in grass for a long series of
years, whilst in hilly districts large tracts are to be
met with through which the coulter and ploughshare
have never passed, and which for generations have been
used exclusively for dairying and stock raising ; hence,
the soil has gradually become exhausted by the yearly
abstraction of a large quantity of phosphate of lime, or
bone earth; from this failing supply of plant food, many
of the finer varieties of grasses have entirely disappeared.
The soils of different geological formations are so varied
in character; they are also, to some extent, affected by
climatic influences, hence, the application of the like ma-
norial elements produce widely different results. Thorough
drainage, wherever necessary, is the foundation of every
other improvement. In some dairy districts draining has,
unfortunately, fallen into disrepute ; this has arisen from

NOTES ON DAIRY FARMING.

19

the erroneous notion, that drainage would of itself,
unaided by any other means, completely restore the
soil to a high state of fertility. On wet pastures,
spirit rushes and hassock grass soon usurp the place
of the finer varieties of permanent grasses. These are so
firmly established in the soil, that unless artificial means are
used for their removal, it takes a long series of years to
wear them out ; even when the superfluous water has been
withdrawn by effective drainage, it is an expensive operation
to stock up the roots of those cumberers of the ground.
In practice, we find a dressing of lime, at the rate of six
tons per acre, the cheapest and most efficient agent in
clearing the soil of noxious plants. The lime should be
slaked in large heaps, and applied to the soil in a hot,
powdery state. Lime produces both a chemical and me-
chanical effect on the land : chemically, it forms new combi-
nations with other elements, hence, it removes acidity from
the soil, and converts decaying vegetable matter into a state
which can be readily assimilated as food to support the growing
plant ; whilst, mechanically, it opens and disintegrates the
soil. Pastures resting on light, sandy soils are the most
expensive and unprofitable subjects that can fall into the
hands of the improver ; the only means of permanently
enhancing their value is by covering the sod with a coating
of clay-marl or road-scrapings. The great outlay required
to improve such land is beyond the scope of a yearly tenant,
and will, therefore, only be undertaken by landlords, or
under the security of a long lease. The various qualities
of loams and clays offer the most profitable field for the
application of skill and capital. On some soils bones
produce magical results : during the past season we were
much struck with the effect produced on a well-drained,
strong clay, resting on the new red sandstone of the Cheshire
plain. On going over the farm, early in the month of March,
1874, we considered 22s. per acre a high rental. About
the beginning of April a dressing of 10 cwt. of half-inch

20

NOTES’ ON DAIRY FARMING.

bones was applied ; before the bones had time to act the
dry season had set in, and it -was not until the soil had
been drenched by the autumn rains that their beneficial
effect became apparent. On again visiting the farm during
the latter part of September, we were agreeably surprised to
find the land clothed with a rich, close sward of clover and
other grasses, and it is now, to all appearance, cheaper at a
rent of 30s. per acre than it was before at 22s. It is,
however, only fair to state that we have seen an equal
quantity of bones applied to grass land where the expen-
diture was scarcely justified by the results. On soils which
are poor in potash, a top-dressing of bones alone increases
the produce only to a limited extent; hence, a mixed ma-
nure on the great majority of soils is the most certain and
profitable. The manufacturers of artificial manures are
well acquainted with the best combination of the proper
ingredients capable of producing the best results. Mr.
Lawes, a well-lmown authority, recommends as a renovating
top-dressing for old pastures, 1J cwt. nitrate of soda, 2J
cwt. superphosphate, and 3 cwt. of kanit per acre, which,
at present rates, will cost about £2 ; this mixture, though
probably not lasting so long in the soil as half-inch bones,
produces a more immediate effect. Pastures may be greatly
improved by folding sheep upon them, particularly when
the sheep are liberally supplied with roots and cake. On
strong clays, farm-yard manures may be used with great
advantage. It is a fact well-known to every intelligent
observer, that the grass lands of England are capable of
great improvement. Under present circumstances we shall
most likely be met with the rejoinder, that the want of
security prevents the tenant farmer from investing his capital
in the soil. We should hail with delight the establishment
of an equable system of tenant right, whilst we disclaim
against anything like the system now in operation in
Ireland, where already, the claims of the tenants are in
many instances equal to half the fee simple of the land ;

NOTES ON DAIRY FARMING.

21

this appears to us to be an utter spoliation of the land-
lord.

The difficulty of obtaining good dairy servants is yearly
increasing, the results of which are gradually becoming
more apparent in the inferior quality of the produce. To
meet the pressing requirements of the age, the system of
associated dairies, so successful on the other side of the
Atlantic, has now been introduced into this country. The
results are a maximum produce at a minimum expense.
Under this system, cheesemaking acquires the status of an
important manufacture, in which a high order of intelligence
and scientific acquirements can find ample scope. When
under the guidance of an educated manager, there is no
more difficulty in turning out a uniform quality than there
is with a barrel of beer or a sack of flour. The movement
has taken root, and is rapidly extending ; and we predict,
that in a few years the making of cheese in a farmhouse
will be as rare a sight as the use of the spinning wheel or
the distaff and spindle. According to the statistical returns,
Derbyshire has 66,700 milk cows; reckoning the produce
of cheese at 3 cwt. of 120 lbs. each per cow, gives us
10,005 tons as the gross make of the county, if the whole
of the milk were converted into cheese. Deducting the
large quantity of milk now sold, and also that used for
butter-making and rearing young stock, we estimate the
total make of cheese in the county in 1874 at 6,500 tons,
representing a money value of £455,000. With an in-
creasing demand for milk, the prices of cheese are no
likely to recede. Although the area of our fields cannot be
extended, yet, by improving the breed of our dairy cows,
and by the introduction of a better system of feeding and
management, within the short space of 10 years the yield
of milk in this county could be increased at least 30 per
cent.

We know some estates where the farms are well equipped
with all the necessary buildings. As a - rule throughout

22

NOTES ON DAIRY FARMING.

the dairy counties of England, the farm buildings are
generally ill-arranged, and in most oases quite inadequate
to meet the wants of an improved system of management.
With a view of directing the attention of the landlords to
the growing requirements of the day, we have ventured
to offer a plan for a dairy farm not exceeding 230 acres, one-
fourth of which is under tillage. As far as practicable we
have endeavoured to arrange the different buildings so that
the amount of labour required to supply the wants of the
stock is reduced to the minimum. By many the cart-horse
stable wall be considered unnecessarily large, if so, two
stalls can be converted into a loose box, which is generally
found useful. We have made provision for a fixed steam
engine, an indispensable requisite on every farm where a large
amount of stock is kept, not only for the preparation of
food, but in these times of high-priced manual labour, in
situations where the farmyard cannot be supplied with
water by gravitation, steam power can be economically
utilized in pumping water into a general reservoir for
supplying the whole of the premises. ' The general system
of dairy management is at present in a transition state: the
recent introduction of cheesemaking in factories, combined
with the rapid development of the milk trade, has com-
pletely dislocated the old “ use and wont” routine of the
dairy farmer. Until we arrive at a more settled state it
would be injudicious to spend much money in providing
accommodation in the farmhouse for the making of cheese,
hence we have made no provision in the steading for so
doing. The labour question is everywhere assuming a more
serious form ; the want of cottage accommodation on the
land has long been felt by agriculturists ; it is a question
for the economist to appraise the value of the unproductive
labour expended by the man who walks two miles daily to
and from his work. Whatever the value of such it is utterly
lost to the community. It is of the utmost importance that
the milking should be regularly performed at fixed hours,

NOTES ON DAIRY FARMING.

23

and unless cottages are provided on the farm, the dairy
farmer is placed . at a greater disadvantage than any other
class. Hitherto the great bar to cottage building on the
farms in districts where labour is scarce, has been the great
cost and the small rate of interest they pay. Some rich
landlords pride themselves on erecting handsome model
cottages around their residences. This is commendable, as
adding grace and beauty to the landscape. The home
best suited to the wants of the agricultural labourer is
one of a substantial character, where more thought has
been expended on sanitary requirements than on artistic
decoration. The best preservative of health in every class
of dwelling is a thorough system of drainage, and a suf-
ficient cubical area of breathing space ; here we have a
parlour of 682 cubic feet, kitchen 1,018, pantry 245,
scullery 245, parents’ bedroom 968, second bedroom 800,
third bedroom 758 cubic feet, coalhouse, petty, and
ashes are supplied though not shown on the plan. We
have had considerable experience in cottage building, and
find this to be the cheapest of any we have tried ; with
estate workmen and materials at cost price, they can be
erected at £180 the pair ; at a rent of 2s. per week they
will pay a fair rate of interest on the money expended.
The dairy farmers, as a rule, are a frugal, hardworking
class, in some localities primitive in their habits, the probable
effects of isolation ; they recognize no bond of common
interest, hence, they are slow to adopt new and improved
practices, and view every innovation on established custom
with suspicion and distrust.

BEMROSE AND SONS, PRINTERS, LONDON AND DERBY.

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